Yearly Archives: 2013

The Hollywood Reporter is saying that “conservatives are celebrating” the dismal box office showing of “White House Down,” which has assorted wingnuts, militia nuts and others with “Rush is Right” bumper stickers on their SUVs as villains. The movie bombed, … Continue reading →

Open Mike night — morning — comes early on holiday weeks. With most of this week’s movies opening today, I’ll chat with Mike Bianchi and Brian Kravitz about “The Lone Ranger.” Mike’s old enough to remember the original. And we’ll … Continue reading →

In the timeline of the standard stand-up comic’s career, Kevin Hart has surged past “young, angry and hungry,” seems to be avoiding Dave Chappelle/Andy Kaufman burnout and is settling just shy of fat, happy and car collecting (Seinfeld, Leno, Chris Tucker). The little … Continue reading →

This Juy 4 sees Disney’s “The Lone Ranger”  taking MASSIVE abuse for its violence, a bloody PG-13 action Western “comedy” with a staggering body count and a serious miscalculation in tone. I thought Armie and Johnny were fine, but Gore … Continue reading →

She didn’t get much of a bounce from “Precious,” but Paula Patton did land the lead in this romantic comedy about a lovelorn stewardess who re-connects with her exes (her “baggage”) to see if anything of them is marriage material. … Continue reading →

Saying the new “Lone Ranger” has “tone issues” is just code for “I could have done without the bad guy tearing out somebody’s heart and taking a bite out of it.” The folks who did the “Pirates of the Caribbean” … Continue reading →

“Despicable Me 2” is a gag-filled delight from start-to-finish. It’s got more laughs in its first five minutes — from its larynx-bending voice actors, its loopy, goofy  design and its milling, mewling Minions —  than “Monsters University” managed over its … Continue reading →

A person can come of age at any time. But in the movies, a lot of that growing up seems packed into the summer months. Especially for boys. That’s when a lad can hang out on the beach, come to … Continue reading →

“Stuck in Love” seems, on its surface, like another male wish fulfillment fantasy masquerading as a romantic comedy. Women in the film seem to have more figured out. And characters played by Jennifer Connelly, Kristen Bell, Lily Collins and Liana … Continue reading →